Not Alone
by RandomQuotage
Summary: It’s another “Tom Riddle could be saved” story. Inspired by Lily and Severus’ friendship. Tom wasn’t always alone, he had a friend at school and he lost her. Can she save him from his fate? TR/OC Rated for later chapters and it may be increased . R&R!
1. Going To Hogwarts

**Not Alone**

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It's another "Tom Riddle could be saved" story. Inspired by Lily and Severus' friendship. Tom wasn't always alone, he had a friend at school and he lost her. Can she save him from his fate? TR/OC Rated for later chappies.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Grace obviously.

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**Going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

Tom sat on the Hogwarts Express in a state wonderment. He was really here. It did exist. That Dumbledore man hadn't been lying. He was on his way to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He wasn't a freak. He was special. Better than the rest of them. Tom's head was pressed against the cool glass of the window, country side rushing by as he smiled softly and thought of the amazing adventures that awaited him. A loud thud and yelp brought him out of his musings and he whipped his head around to face the compartment door. In the apartment opposite he could see a curly haired girl with freckles giggling at something through the window. He craned his neck up to try and see the hallway floor. A tiny girl lay there, crushed under her trunk. Tom stifled a snort of laughter and waited for someone from the other compartment to help her. When it became apparent that no help was coming, he sighed and reluctantly got up, sliding open the compartment door and looking down at the girl, smirking. "Comfortable?" he asked, trying to keep his face composed.

The girl grinned, blushing and replied, "Oh, yeah, completely fine!" Tom cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at her pixie-ish face, surrounded by thick masses of black hair. "That _was_ a joke," the girl said sheepishly, "could you, uh…help me…please?" Tom rolled his eyes and heaved the heavy trunk off her, pulling it into the compartment next to him. The girl scrambled to get up, her oversized jumper giving the impression she was attempting to erect a small tent. She shook her thick, wavy hair back and wrestled it into a pony tail before sticking out her hand and saying "Hi! I'm Grace, or Gracie, if you like."

Tom looked down at her hand condescendingly. She didn't look the respectable sort. She was wearing a plain grey pleated skirt, white stockings with grey smudges on them. Her black Mary Jane style shoes were scuffed and her green sweater was ridiculously large and the sleeves were rolled back several times so her hands could be seen. Once he realised he had been staring at her for several seconds he quickly took her hand and shook it once. "I'm Tom," he said shortly, not entirely sure this was a girl he wanted to become friendly with.

She, however, had different plans. Hauling her trunk over to his, he smirked as he realised why her trunk had overpowered her in the hall. She was barely taller than the trunk itself and her arms and legs were skinnier than his, which said a lot since the orphanage didn't exactly over feed him. She collapsed onto the seat opposite his with a satisfied smile once she had managed to force her trunk to move where she wanted. Her thick hair was already bursting free of its restraint, falling over her face. Tom looked at her and thought she looked incredibly odd. Her face was heart shaped, with a small, upturned nose, spattered with freckles. Her eyes seemed much too large for her face and were a strange colour; varying shades of green with flecks and dashes of amber-yellow. Her mouth was tiny and rested open, revealing teeth much too large for such a small mouth. Her hair, slowly escaping the pony tail and gathering around her face made her head appear too big for her tiny body and overpowered all her features but her eyes.

Gracie had noticed his staring and was shifting uncomfortably under his gaze and smiling nervously. Her tiny legs were swinging back and forth, her palms pressed against the seat, pushing her shoulders up around her ears, which were turning pink along with her cheeks. "So, uh…are you from a wizarding family? Or didn't you know?"

Tom started, slightly affronted by the question. He considered it briefly, and decided the truth was best, "I don't know. My parents are dead. I grew up in an orphanage, but they can't have been magic. Otherwise they wouldn't have died."

Grace frowned, "I don't think it works like that. I mean, everyone has to die," Tom remained silent. Grace hurried to change the subject, afraid she had upset him, "My parents are – what's the word? Muggles? Daddy was so proud. He always knew I was special. This is his jumper," she rambled, holding up her arms, "he gave it to me so I would always have something to remember him by when I'm homesick. It's my favourite colour."

Tom smiled sadly. It wasn't fair for him to dislike this girl because she had a family and a father that obviously loved her, but he was jealous. He had never had a father give him any memento to remember him. He had no gifts from his parents, except his name. His mother gave him his father's name and his grandfather's name. Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was jealous. He glared at her in her stupid green sweater, resented her sad, but fond smile as she looked down at it, clearly remembering hugs, kisses, kind words…love. Tom had none of that. It wasn't fair. The two of them sat in silence for a long while, until Tom looked up and saw that Grace looked close to tears. "It'll be ok," he tried to comfort her, "when we're at Hogwarts there'll be so much amazing stuff you won't have time to miss your dad, will you?"

Grace looked up, her eyes glistening, but she was smiling happily, "No, I guess you're right. It's so exciting! When I went to Diagon Alley I couldn't believe my eyes! Wasn't it amazing? Daddy even bought me a pet owl. He hates cats and toads are icky, so he got me a sooty owl. I put him with all the other owls down the end of the carriage. He's so pretty. I called him Farrow."  
Tom blushed, he had no money to get anything other than what was on the booklist, which Hogwarts had paid for. He mumbled this, looking down, embarrassed. Surely Grace would laugh at him for being poor and parentless. He had nothing. It was pathetic. Instead she smiled again, and piped up "That's ok! A lot of people can't just go around buying everything. It was a lot for dad to get Farrow, but it was a treat. Tell you what, we'll share him. You can use him whenever you like and we'll take care of him together!"

Tom looked up at her bemused. Why was this girl so incessantly friendly? No one ever _chose_ to spend time with him. The children at the orphanage avoided him at all costs. This girl was weird. Tom peered across at Grace who was staring out of the window at the passing countryside, watching as the clear sky became overcast with heavy grey cloud. She was still swinging her legs and smiling happily. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a friend? She didn't seem to judge him for being poor or an orphan. Just the opposite, in fact, she seemed to be friendlier each time she found out something embarrassing. Was she going to make fun of him later? Tom sat back, confused and grumpy. He didn't like not knowing what other people would do. He liked to be in control and she was too damn cheery for him to work her out.

Tom's dark musings were interrupted by an elderly witch with a trolley of food, "Would you like anything dears?" Tom suddenly realised how hungry he was. He had no money and no packed lunch. Grace seemed to have noticed the hunger in his eyes too, because she was asking what the witch had and how much two lot pumpkin pasties, some chocolate frogs and two bottles of Dr M. A. Gic's Favaflavour Water were. The witch gathered the food and Grace exchanged it for several silver sickles then threw a pasty and a bottle of water at Tom. "Th-thanks," he said, not sure what to say in response to her kindness.

"No problem. You have to eat! I wonder what this Favaflavour thing means?" she questioned, twisting off the top and taking a sip. "Wow! It tastes like all my favourite things! Lemonade…now roast lamb and potatoes! Mm, now it's turning into strawberry milkshake with vanilla icecream!" Tom's eyes widened like saucers and he put down the pumpkin pasty he had been about to bite and quickly followed Grace's lead. She was right. It tasted like all his favourite treats, the things he got once in a blue moon at the orphanage. At first it was roast chicken and vegetables, then freshly squeezed orange juice, and then it turned into smooth, creamy chocolate! Tom marvelled at the drink, looking up at Grace in amazement. She grinned at him as she bit into the pasty. "This is good too Tommy, try it!" Tom grimaced slightly at the name "Tommy" but took a bite from the pasty all the same. She was right, it was good.

"Thanks for all this Grace, but _never_ call me Tommy," Tom said in a cautioning way. Grace blushed and apologised immediately, offering him a placatory chocolate frog, her eyes pleading with him to forgive her. Tom eyed her with satisfaction; she valued him highly and knew he was important. That was good. He took the chocolate frog and rewarded her with a smile, finishing his pasty as her eyes lit up in happiness and relief.

Grace was the first to finish her pasty and rip open one of the chocolate frog packets. The frog inside leapt out onto Tom's trunk and Grace shrieked in amazement. "Tom! Tom! Look! The frogs move!!!" Tom and Grace both leapt to catch the frog before it jumped somewhere else. Tom's fist closed around it triumphantly and he handed it back to Grace.

"They may be able to jump, but they don't know when to do it," he said smugly, "Hey, look, there's something else in the packet," he pointed to the crumpled cardboard package as Grace bit the head off the wayward chocolate frog. She turned, shoving the rest of the frog into her mouth and picked up the packaging, pulling out a card and turning it around.

"Va puctures miv!" Grace exclaimed, her mouth full of chocolate. Tom glared at her disapprovingly and she swallowed, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry. I said the pictures move! Look." Tom took the card from her and saw an old witch with warts all over her face grinning stupidly and cackling silently, then running to the side of her frame, seemingly playing peek-a-boo with him. Tom snorted with laughter and stared out of the window at the setting sun.

"We'd better get changed into our school uniforms. We can't be very far off. The sun's going down." Grace looked up at the window and exclaimed in shock that he was right. Tom helped her get her robes out of her trunk without it crushing her tiny frame, and, once she'd hurried off to find a bathroom so she could change, pulled his own robes from his trunk and hurriedly changed. Tom was checking his reflection in the window, making sure his tie was straight and his hair properly combed when Grace came back in. Her hat was crumpled in her hand and her tie was off centre and uneven. Her shirt tails were hanging out the back of her jumper and one of her socks was around her ankles. Her cloak was fastened near her ear so only one half of her body was covered and her hair had completely sprung free of its tenuous bonds. Tom looked at her in disbelief and exclaimed, "Don't they _have_ mirrors in girl's bathrooms?"

Grace looked down at herself and blushed, grinning. "Yeah, I've just never been the most…neat person. Dad used to spend hours fixing my tie and my collar when I got dressed in the morning for school. He spent ages getting my hair tamed too."

"I can see why." Tom said disapprovingly, but a hint of a smile made its way into his tone and he sighed. "Come here, you can't possibly walk into our brand new school where we're already different because we don't know anything about magic looking like _that_!" Gracie stood still and tried to be good as Tom fussed about her uniform, straightening her collar and cloak and fixing her tie. She obeyed him without resistance when he ordered her to pull up her socks and tuck in her shirt. Tom stood back and looked her over approvingly. "Much better. Although your hair is a nightmare, is it always this...wild? And don't hold your hat like that, it'll ruin its shape." Grace giggled and grabbed a brush from her trunk, scraping it through her hair, smoothing the endless tangles and pulling it into a much neater controlled pony tail.

"How's that, mum?" she teased, and Tom cocked his eyebrow at her and stuck out his tongue before the two of them broke into stifled laughter. The sun had truly disappeared from the sky by this time and there was a growing air of excitement in the air of the Hogwarts Express. Tom and Gracie sat in their compartment silent and nervous. Tom felt a knot of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. He heard Gracie gasp and his head snapped around to her. "It's slowing down," she breathed, sounding panicked. The train screeched to a halt and she grabbed Tom's arm, "Tom! We're there. We're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

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There's the first chapter! Please review. =3


	2. The Sorting

**Not Alone**

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Disclaimer: You already know it.

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**The Sorting**

The train jerked as it halted, rocking Grace and Tom back and forth. Gracie excitedly exclaimed, "Tom! We're there. We're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" A disembodied voice rang through the train instructing them; "ALL BELONGINGS ARE TO BE LEFT ON THE TRAIN AND TRANSPORTED TO THE CASTLE SEPERATELY. FIRST YEARS ARE TO WAIT ON THE PLATFORM FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION. ALL OTHER YEARS ARE TO PROCEED TO THE CARRIAGES WHICH WILL DELIVER YOU TO THE CASTLE!" The notice repeated itself steadily as they scrambled out into the corridors which were a seething mass of black robes and shouting. They were carried along by the mass until they were roughly shoved aside by a larger boy as he jumped off the train, running to meet a friend, shouting "Weasley! Hey! WEASLEY! Wait up!" Tom glared after the boy, angered at being shoved aside so carelessly, but Gracie had hold of his wrist and was talking to him.

"Tom, this way, I can hear us being called." Sure enough, there was a husky voice shouting "FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS THIS WEH! OI! YEH LOT FIRS' YEARS? _THIS_ WEH PLEASE!!!" Tom allowed himself to be pulled along by Gracie, not wishing to be lost as the older students pushed past them. Gracie led Tom to the end of a platform where a tall man with ruddy skin and a scrubby light brown beard stood with a lamp. He was shouting in a thick Geordie accent, scanning the platform for anymore first years with alarmingly blue eyes from beneath a pronounced forehead with bushy eyebrows. A small crowd of scared eleven year olds surrounded them and the man towered over them, peering at them and then nodding, satisfied that he had them all. "Righ' yeh'll be the all the firs' years then. Me neem's Ogg. Ah'm the groundskeeper 'ere at 'Ogwarts. Ah'll be teekin' yeh lot acruuss the leek to the castle, alrigh'?" Many of the first years looked up at the man terrified and confused. His thick accent made him difficult to understand and his yellowed teeth, scrubby appearance and height of six and a half feet made him an imposing figure.

Tom looked at him disdainfully, but Gracie stared up at him giggling. He reminded her of her uncle and his booming Scottish accent rambling on about the "proddy bastards". Tom cocked his eyebrow at her questioningly and she giggled and shrugged at him. Tom shook his head at her, again thinking what an odd girl she was. "Righ' then, this weh, now. Tha's righ', inteh the boats. We're goin' acruuss the leek," Ogg's voice instructed them as they clambered into the boats that lined the shore of a massive lake. Tom and Grace clambered into a boat with a pale blonde boy who had steely grey eyes and a pointed face and a girl with mousey brown hair to her shoulders and oversized glasses. The boats began to move across the water slowly, as if some great creature in the lake pulled them. Ogg's boat was out in front, his lamp creating a small globe of light which their boats all seemed to be following.

The boats came up to a landing where they all clambered out of the boats, taking great care not to slip and fall into the chilly water and together they moved quickly up to the castle, anxious to leave the cold. Ogg left them at a set of stairs and winked at them, "Righ' then, Ah'll be ooff now, yeh beheeve yehselves. A professor will be 'ere shahtly to teek yeh in." and he walked through the gargantuan doors. The groups silence broke as small groups began to chat amongst themselves. Tom and Gracie turned to each other, shrugged and joined the nearest group, which was nearly all boys. Tom introduced himself and went to introduce Gracie, realising he didn't know her full name. "Grace Emily McDermott" she chimed in as he faltered after her first name. The boys around the circle smiled politely and the pale blonde boy who had been in their boat introduced them, "I'm Abraxus Malfoy, and this is Frederick Avery, Antonin Dolohov, Angus Rosier, Rolandan Lestrange, Jonathon Nott and Damien Mulciber. She's Franny Parkinson and that's Gertrude Bulstrode over there", he pointed across the circle to two girls, one who was quite pretty, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, the other had dark red frizz and dull brown eyes and a square jaw which jutted out and made strongly resemble a bulldog. Just as Abraxus had finished his introductions the doors swung open and a teacher in long deep purple robes stood in the doorway. He had half moon spectacles which highlighted his twinkling light blue eyes and his hair cascaded down his back. His beard, which was equally as long as his hair, was tucked into his belt and, like his hair, was a deep auburn. His eyes swept over the crowd of first years and he smiled at them. His eyes lingered on Tom a second longer than on most. "Welcome first years! I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and I am the Transfiguration teacher here and Hogwarts. In a moment I shall take you into the Great Hall where you shall be sorted into one of the four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family at Hogwarts. You will live with them and have lessons with them. Each house produces fine witches and wizards and you are sorted according to your personal qualities. Now, if you would kindly all follow me. Single file, please."

Dumbledore led them into an entrance hall and they passed four gigantic hour glasses filled with different coloured gems. Gracie turned to Tom and mouthed "wow", he grinned and they continued to follow Dumbledore. As they entered the Great Hall they saw a sea of black school robes and people craned their necks to see the new students. Dumbledore led them up to the front of the hall, in front of the teacher's table, where a stool with an old hat on it stood. Dumbledore turned to the teacher in the centre of the teacher's table and nodded. He stood and said "Welcome to all of you! To the new students, I am Professor Dippet, the Headmaster. Now, as we are all hungry, without further ado, let the Sorting Ceremony begin!" There was a round of applause from the hall and then all went quiet, staring at the shabby old hat. Suddenly the hat's brim tore open and burst into song!

_Oh many__, many years ago,  
Before all of you were born,  
There lived four great wizards,  
Who are all still well known.  
Their names are immortalised,  
Within these very walls,  
For each of the houses,  
Is named for one and Hogwarts named for all.  
Now each house has different values,  
For each values different virtues,  
So listen well, and I will tell  
Where it is you should dwell!  
Those who dwell in Gryffindor,  
Must be brave beyond the rest,  
For Gryffindor himself,  
Was the boldest of the best!  
As for those in Ravenclaw,  
Brains is what you've got!  
The cleverest of everyone,  
Your wit will beat the lot!  
Now all those in Hufflepuff,  
They work hard and true,  
Everyone who is in there  
Will work till their faces are blue!  
And now we go to Slytherin,  
Where ambition will win out,  
He loves those who want more  
And use cunning to deal their clout!  
So where is it that you belong?  
In Gryffindor, where hearts are true?  
In Hufflepuff, with faces blue?  
In Ravenclaw, your wit amazing,  
Or Slytherin, ambition blazing?  
To find out where it is that you do truly dwell,  
Try me on! I will look into your mind and tell!_

Gracie and Tom stared with amazement at the hat and glanced at each other. Gracie mouthed "Where do you think you'll go?" Tom thought for only a second before mouthing back "Slytherin". Gracie nodded. She didn't know where she would end up. She was very brainy, so maybe Ravenclaw? She knew she wouldn't get into Hufflepuff; she tended to be lazy. Gryffindor also sounded out of the question – she was scared of spiders, clowns, needles, too many things to be considered "brave beyond the rest". Slytherin was definitely an option. She had always wanted to do well. Be the best at something. Her sisters and brothers all had something they were brilliant at but she always wanted to be slightly better. Grace knew she wanted to be with Tom. He was the only person she knew here and she liked him. If he was going to Slytherin, she was too.

Katherine Abbott was called up first and the hat sent her to Hufflepuff, where she was greeted by cheering and clapping. Frederick Avery was up next and he was the first sent to Slytherin to raucous applause and whooping. Abraxus whispered to Grace, who was next to him, that Avery's whole family was in Slytherin, just like his. The line dwindled as the hat sent frightened first years to various houses, shouting, "HUFFLEPUFF! RAVENCLAW! RAVENCLAW! SLYTHERIN! GRYFFINDOR! HUFFLEPUFF! GRYFFINDOR!" Abraxus was called up and the hat barely touched his head before screaming "SLYTHERIN!", after which Abraxus strutted to the Slytherin table, as though he always knew he would, although he did look rather relieved. Tom was further back in the line than Grace but she turned to him and he mouthed "Good luck," she smiled and mouthed back "Thank you" as Dumbledore called "McDermott, Grace" and she walked towards the hat, her heart hammering. As she sat down and Dumbledore placed the hat on her head, which, without her wild hair loose to hold it up slid down past her chin, she prayed silently that she would go to Slytherin and so would Tom. Grace jumped as a voice in her mind whispered "Aaaah, nice brain you've got. Yes, you're very quick, Ravenclaw perhaps?", Grace's heart skipped a beat and she froze with terror, but the hat continued, "got a nice bit of ambition here though, yes…want to go far don't you? You want to prove yourself. You've definitely got the mind to do it, yes I think I know what house will help you along…SLYTHERIN!" the hat screamed into the hall. Gracie jumped off the stool excitedly as the hat was pulled off her head and skipped to the Slytherin table where they were cheering for her. She looked back at Tom and saw that he was happy and mouthed to her "Well done!" and she beamed, giving him a thumbs up as a reply.

Tom stood in line waiting for his turn; he was glad that Grace had got into Slytherin. Despite himself, he liked her. She made him laugh. So far everyone from their group on the stairs had gone into Slytherin. He stood impatiently. He knew he would be in Slytherin, the qualities definitely fit him the best, but he didn't like waiting. It made him nervous and he wanted to know now. Finally the girl in front of him (Reesely, Jane) was sorted into Gryffindor and Dumbledore called his name, "Riddle, Tom". Tom walked quickly to the hat, eagerly awaiting its touch as it slid down his head to his ears. "Easy choice," the hat's voice said in his ear, "SLYTHERIN!" Tom's face broke into a smile and he walked towards the Slytherin's cheers. He sat between Grace and Damien Mulciber, ecstatic at the hat's choice.

As the Sorting ended the hat and stool were carried away by Dumbledore into a side chamber and Professor Dippet stood once more. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before the feast can begin, let me deliver a few messages. Firstly, the Forest on grounds is forbidden to all students! It contains several dangerous animals and it is ill advisable for any of you to be wandering. A reminder that there is to be _no_ leaving common rooms after hours. I would also like to introduce our new caretaker, Mr Apollyon Pringle," Dippet gestured to the back of the hall where a young man with blonde hair and a cheery smile stood, "and now that all messages are complete, dig in to the feast!" At Dippet's last words the plates in front of them filled with food of all types. Roasts, soups, lasagnes, casseroles, frittatas – any possible food was present. The older students didn't seem to find this odd at all so the first years followed their lead and began to eat. Grace turned to Tom and beamed, "I'm so glad we're together!" Tom smiled at her.

"I am too. It's nice to have a friend," Tom said quietly. Grace smiled and blushed. She was slightly overwhelmed that he considered her a friend. He didn't seem the type to have many friends. Tom was surprised by his words too, but not entirely unhappy that he had said them. Around them the Slytherin first years were conversing happily. Apart from the group from earlier there was one other new Slytherin, a beautiful, dark skinned girl named Marcella Zabini who sat across from Grace. Franny was talking animatedly to her about hair styling products while Gertrude sat on Franny's other side looking bored and sullen. Nott, Avery, Malfoy and Lestrange were discussing family histories together and it became apparent that their whole families were magical and that they had grown up together. Dolohov, Rosier and Mulciber were all talking about lessons and what they were most looking forward to. Grace and Tom sat quietly listening to the others in amazement, occasionally making quiet remarks about something one of the others had said. As the main course ended and dessert appeared Marcella and Franny engaged Gracie in their discussion of hair styling products, asking how she got her hair so thick and voluminous. Tom stifled laughter as he listened to their laments about their own limp, lifeless hair and Grace nodded politely, not sure how to answer their questions.

At the end of the feast, Dippet stood again and bade them all goodnight. The remains of dessert disappeared from the plates leaving them spotless. Tom stood and pulled Gracie up with him, gesturing to a tall, brown haired boy with pimples spattered across his forehead. The boy was calling, "First year Slytherins? First year Slytherins this way please!" They followed him out of the Great Hall and off to the other side of the entrance hall, into a passage that sloped downwards, as if heading underground. Lining the walls were moving paintings that wished them a good night, or congratulated them on being in Slytherin. The tall boy paused at a blank stretch of wall between two ugly stone gargoyles and said "serpent". The bricks of the wall behind the boy parted and rolled back, revealing a doorway between the two gargoyles. The boy lead them into a large room filled with couches and chairs, several desks and decorated in green, black and silver. A fire crackled happily in the grate and on each side of the fireplace was a passageway. "Welcome to the Slytherin common room," said the pimply-faced boy, "I am Augustus Rookwood and one of the Slytherin prefects. This is our common room, and, as you saw, the password is serpent. Do not reveal the password to anyone who is not a Slytherin. The passages either side of me lead to the dormitories. Your belongings are already there. On my left is the boy's dormitory, on my right, the girl's. Boys and girls are not allowed in each other's dormitories. If you have any questions, ask a teacher or any of the Slytherin prefects. The Slytherin Head of House is Professor Slughorn, who teaches potions. Goodnight." Rookwood turned and walked down the passageway to the boy's dormitories. The first years sleepily bade each other goodnight and left for their dormitories. Grace smiled at Tom and said "Well, our friendship survived the sorting." Tom smiled and stifled a yawn.

"See you tomorrow, we'll see if it lasts the week," he grinned and waved to her as he traipsed off behind the other boys to his dormitory. Grace quickly followed the girl's into theirs and got into her nightdress, crawling into her large, four-poster bed, admiring the green drapes and covers. Unbeknownst to her, Tom was doing the same, lying in his bed staring at the drapes, marvelling at his luck. He knew he didn't have to be jealous of Grace anymore, "I have a home," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes sleepily, "Hogwarts is my home."

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Second chapter. Particularly proud of my Sorting Song. :D REVIEW!!!


	3. First Day

**Not Alone**

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Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah.

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**First Day**

Tom was roused by someone shaking him. He immediately grabbed their arm and twisted it, angry at being woken up. Stupid orphans never learn to leave me alone, he thought before someone thumped his head and growled, "Let go! We have to wake up. It's breakfast then lessons, idiot." Tom opened his eyes a crack and peered bleary-eyed up at the boy leaning over him. Mulciber stood there, half dressed in black robes with green and silver lining and trim. Tom stared confused for a second before realising he was no longer at the orphanage. He released Mulciber's arm and stared in wonderment at the emerald green drapes that surrounded him. He was really there, at Hogwarts. At _home_. For once in his life Tom felt happy to be up early in the morning, leaving the warmth of his soft bed and finding freshly pressed robes next to his bed on a chair. The all black robes with Hogwarts crest had changed overnight. His tie had become emerald green and silver striped, with similar trimmings around the cuffs off his jumper. His cloak now had green silk lining and a silver trim around the edge. The Hogwarts crest had disappeared and in its place a silver snake embroidered to form the letter 'S' on an emerald background beneath a banner with the name "Slytherin". Tom smiled happily to himself as he put on his new robes. He was proud to be in Slytherin, they were clearly the most powerful house. He remembered the words of the Sorting Hat the night before "Slytherin, ambition blazing". Tom knew he wanted to be great. He knew he was better than he seemed. He was intelligent, had good taste, he was charming, cunning and knew he was destined for great things. He was certainly the greatest Slytherin that had ever set foot in the grandiose dungeon common room of the Slytherins.

Tom ambled down the passageway to the common room a short while later, having briefly agonised over what books to pack in his bag. He did not know what lessons he would have today and wasn't sure he would have time to run back after breakfast. Eventually he shrugged and stacked all his books in his bag, heaving it off the floor and onto his shoulders. Grace was bouncing on the balls of her feet at the entrance to the boy's dormitories, her hair wild and curly around her face, making her head seem twice as large as it really was. "Where have you been? What's taking you so long? It's our _first day_, Tom! We can't be late!"

Tom gave her a withering look and sighed, "I'm hardly late, Grace. It's barely 7.30. Classes don't begin until 8.30, Rookwood told me," he quickly cut her off as he saw her mouth open to no doubt exclaim that he didn't know that, "besides, I think it is better to be on time and make a good first impression rather than rush and be there hours early but looking…well, worse for wear," he smirked as he eyed her untamed curls and lopsided tie. "You're really not very good at tying ties are you?" he muttered as he yanked her tie from around her neck, tying it properly before handing it back to her, "You'll never get it over your head unless you do _something_ about your hair. Honestly, it's a rat's nest, Grace!" he scolded her gently.

Grace blushed and began a long rambling tirade about how her hair had always been like this, thick, black masses of ringlets and waves that refused to be tamed as she struggled to force a brush through the tangle. Tom snatched the brush from her hands and ignored her yelps of protest as he attacked her head, forcing his way through the knots until her hair hung in loose waves around her head, falling just below her shoulders. Grace sat on one of the black leather chairs pouting as she complained that she'd have a headache all day after he pulled at her hair so much. "Well if you bothered to brush your hair a couple of times a day it would be much nicer. Yes it's thick, yes it's difficult but as you can see if you just _brush_ it, it can look quite nice," he lectured her, "now pull it into a pony tail, put your tie on and we'll go to breakfast looking respectable." Tom smirked as he looked at Grace's face, her tiny mouth pouting as she pulled her hair up and stretched her tie over her head. He may have conceded that she was nice and funny, but if he was going to have a friend, she was going to live up to his standards of dress and behaviour. With her hair pulled away from her face Grace looked remarkably different. Her features were normally dwarfed by her massive eyes and forest of curls but with her hair out of her face her nose and mouth became more prominent, balancing out her eyes and making her quite pretty. Tom nodded with approval as she sarcastically presented herself for inspection and both of them stifled giggles as they left the warm, green glow of the Slytherin common room and followed the steady flow of students along the dungeon corridors to the Great Hall.

They took their place at the Slytherin table, sitting in the group of other first years. Marcella and Franny immediately commented on her hair, Franny lamenting at how her thin, blonde hair hung limply and straight from her pony tail while Gracie's fell in voluminous waves and curls. Marcella flicked her long braided hair around, complaining that there was little she could do with it. Grace kept attempting to join in the conversation but each time she opened her mouth one of the other two was already off on a rant about some hair product. Gertrude stared at them sullenly from across the table, her rust coloured frizz untamed, hanging in wisps around her face, her dull brown eyes magnified by her glasses. Tom gave Gracie sidelong glances, smirking at her struggle to converse easily with the girls. He was sitting next to Avery, conversing with the boys over what subject they would have first. Malfoy insisted that they always gave first years Transfiguration first, as it was hard and they wanted to scare them into working hard. Rosier quickly cut him down and retorted that his brother had Charms first thing Monday morning when he had been in first year. Avery turned to Tom and said excitedly, "What do you want first, Tom?" Tom simply smiled and replied, "Breakfast." The boys broke into laughter as food magically appeared on the plates.

As they were finishing their breakfast an enormous man with a thick bristly walrus-like moustache was moving along the table handing out pieces of paper. He waddled down the table and when he reached the first years gave them a beaming smile and took a deep breath, his gargantuan stomach sorely testing the buttons on his emerald velvet waistcoat, "Well! You lot must be the first years! Welcome to Hogwarts, and of course Slytherin!" he winked and chuckled as if he had told a brilliant joke, "You lucky children have me first up! I'm Professor Slughorn, of course. Yes, I teach potions, very interesting stuff! Certainly hope you lot of Slytherins uphold our good reputation? Yes, I was a Slytherin myself you know, that's why I'm the Head of House now. Yes, we won the House cup _every_ year I was at school! We've won the last three years, you know, got to keep up our winning streak, eh?" he chuckled again as he handed out timetables to each of them, "And the last one, Rosier, Angus? Well, that must be you, my boy!" he smiled down at Rosier. "Well, hurry along to potions kiddies! Don't want to miss a minute!" he called as he continued to waddle along down the line, stopping to chat to some students fondly, ignoring others completely.

Tom studied his timetable, eager to begin his magical learning. He glanced across to Grace's timetable, lying in front of her, the corner in danger of dipping into a pitcher of cream, and saw that they were identical. That was good; at least he wouldn't have to put up with lots of new people if he could sit by her. Grace finished her scrambled eggs and toast and turned to Tom, beaming, "Blimey this place is brilliant. The food is spectacular!" Tom was silent at this but he smiled in agreement, pondering over how brilliant it all really was.

"Come on," he muttered, "let's get to potions. Get good seats." Gracie teased him for being Mr Eager on the way back to the dungeons. They found Slughorn's classroom without much difficulty, it was in the corridor just past their common room. The cold dungeon room was a mixture of creepy and comfortable. On the shelves that lined the walls there were a number of small animals and unidentifiable objects floating in jars filled with various coloured liquids. Offsetting this disturbing feature was the warm fire that blazed heartily at the front of the room behind a large desk draped in green with a box of candy lying open next to a potions book. The room was filled with long desks that lined each seated two students. Two cauldron stands were set upon each and two green-cushioned stools sat beneath each desk.

Tom made a beeline for the front of the classroom and Gracie followed him, an excited skip in her step. They set their bags down next to the desk and pulled out the cauldrons that had been weighing down their bags. They set their ingredient kits down next to the cauldron stand and Tom began to read the introduction of his shabby, second-hand copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_. His copy of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ lay on the desk next to Grace. She blushed in embarrassment, she had not thought to bring her Herbology book, but it seemed so logical that she should have now. Potions obviously used plants often. Her own copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ lay unopened on the desk. It was much glossier than Tom's and the spine was stiff. She blushed harder at the fact that she had brand new books when his had obviously been bought cheap. She didn't want to feel superior to her friend. Tom hadn't seemed to notice her embarrassment, but unbeknownst to her, he had noticed her belongings. The feelings of jealousy he harboured against her intensified as he heard the cracking the spine of her book made as she opened it for the first time, smoothing the page and skimming through the introduction.

Tom's musings were cut short as a chuckle erupted from the back of the room, "That's the way! That's the way! Ahh, Slytherins, always eager. Of course we pride ourselves on it!" Slughorn quickly waddled to the front of the room, taking his seat at the green-draped desk in front of the hearth-fire and began to sing, "_Most cunning are our noble friends in Slytherin, their great ambition and determination always brings them to the win…_" he chuckled again, "Of course you two wouldn't have heard that one. No, no, that was from the year I came to Hogwarts." He stared around the room satisfied and smiled at them widely, taking a piece of candy from the open box and popping it into his mouth. "Mm, delicious. Crystallized pineapple, it's my very favourite. Yes, I remember old Ambrosius Flume of Honeydukes well. He was a Hufflepuff, sadly. He would have done so well in Slytherin. Brilliant potion maker, very talented. No doubt it's contributed to his uncanny ability to blend flavours in the most pleasing way."

Tom and Grace were soon smirking and stifling laughter as Slughorn regaled them with tales of his former students and how he, personally, was always directly responsible for their later fame and glory, even if he had the most minor intervention in their lives ("Oh yes! Delfinious Kensington, high up in the Ministry of Magic you know, yes, I got him an interview there. He had dropped Potions by the time I started teaching here, sadly, but I filled in for Professor Merrythought a few times in his sixth year, yes, struck up quite a relationship"). Slowly the rest of the class filled up. The Slytherins had potions with the Gryffindors and Grace noticed a distinct coolness between the two groups. Mulciber and Rosier took their seats at the desk next to Tom and Grace, Avery and Malfoy behind them. Dolohov and Lestrange sat together, as did Franny and Marcella, leaving Nott to reluctantly sit next to Gertrude Bulstrode. Lestrange gave him an apologetic look and mouthed that next lesson they would sit together. The Gryffindors sat at the back of the classroom, seemingly trying to put as much distance between them and the Slytherins as possible until Slughorn called, "Come now, children! Move up, plenty of room, you want to be nice and close for your first lesson don't you!" Grace heard Malfoy mutter behind her, "They should stay at the back, filthy mudblood lovers shouldn't even be here." Grace noticed Tom twitch at the comment, but she remained silent, confused but eager to hear what Slughorn had to say.

It turned out that Potions was not as simple as reading the ingredients and adding them to the cauldron. By the end of the lesson most people were panicking, Slughorn had them brew a simple boil-curing potion. One of the Gryffindor boys had gotten up to get some extra ingredients and knocked his cauldron over, pouring the half finished concoction all over Nott and Gertrude. The two of them shrieked as ugly, painful looking boils erupted all over them. Slughorn bustled over to them, tut-tutting as he examined them, "Oh dear, up to the hospital wing, I think. Yes, Malfoy, you take them up, will you? It's on the fifth floor; just tell Madam Gosling that I sent you up. She'll get you two fixed up quick smart." Slughorn smiled at them comfortingly. He waved his wand, muttering_ Evanesco _and making the potion disappear, causing the first years to gasp and some applauded. "Now, boy," Slughorn addressed the sheepish looking Gryffindor boy sternly, "you simply must be more careful! Honestly Henley, I don't want to be unnecessarily harsh, but I'm going to have to take a point from Gryffindor. Remember son, be careful."

The lesson was largely uneventful after that, with no pair being able to produce the potion correctly, except one. Tom's and Grace's potion was bubbling away merrily, a bright shade of magenta, just as the book described. Others were not nearly as successful. Dolohov and Lestrange's had a concoction the consistency of cement the colour of Pepto-Bismol stuck in the bottom of their cauldron. A pair of Gryffindors had produced something that was spewing thick white fumes all over the dungeon that smelt strongly of vomit. "Dear me!" lamented Slughorn as he went around vanishing the failed potions, "You lot really must read the instructions more carefully! It clearly says to turn counter clockwise _three _times before waiting five seconds and then turning clockwise _twice_. Only Mr Riddle and Miss McDermott have produced something worthy of being called a potion! Ten points to Slytherin, you two. Well done! I have a feeling you'll both be naturals in my class." Slughorn smiled indulgently at them as he issued a paper on simple cures for skin imperfections due in one week. Tom and Grace were both beaming with pride and Tom seemed to be sitting even more ridiculously straight than normal, and Grace's normal slouch was definitely less pronounced than normal. They smiled happily to each other and packed up their books.

Tom listened smugly as Grace was fondly rehashing everything they had done right where others had made mistakes as they walked back along the dungeon corridors. Before they rushed to their Charms lesson on the fifth floor they dropped their Potions things and the books they wouldn't need that day in their common room; the cauldrons were awfully heavy and weighed down their bags. Enlisting the help of Rookwood, who was lounging on one of the couches reading a book about something called "Quidditch" they managed to make it to Charms with a couple of minutes to spare, rushing into the class and finding the other Slytherins already there. The Ravenclaws were the other House present in the class. Grace and Tom were relieved to see they were not the last ones there and several seats were still available. Rosier and Franny had saved them both seats in the front row and waved them over just as a kindly looking wizard in deep blue robes strode into the room. "Quickly, quickly, students! I'm sure you all want to get going with some wand work!" he looked around enthusiastically at them. The room immediately began buzzing with excited whispers. Tom drew his wand slowly out of his cloak's pocket and stared at it lovingly. He had been fascinated by it ever since he had bought it at Ollivander's wand shop in Diagon Alley. Grace smiled as she saw the loving look on his face, "It's a very nice wand," she said. Tom looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, yew. 13 and a half inches with a phoenix tail feather core. Ollivander said it was a very powerful wand and would do great things." Tom seemed in awe of it as he stared it. Grace drew her own wand from her pocket and showed it to Tom. He took it in his hands and smiled, maybe it was true that the wand chose the wizard because Grace's wand seemed to embody her. It was quite short, only around 8 and a half to 9 inches. The wood seemed to be ebony, dark as her hair, the grain going in a swirling wavy pattern, reflecting her wild, wavy curls. "What are its details?"

"Ebony, 9 inches and a unicorn tail hair, springy. Ollivander said it was a strong-willed wand and very powerful if wielded by one with a strong-willed mind," Grace said rather proudly, "he said I must be very strong minded to be able to master it," she smiled smugly. Tom smiled and handed her back her wand. It truly did fit her personality. It was even springy, she always seemed to be bouncing everywhere, he thought as he chuckled softly. "What are you laughing at?" Grace enquired looking slightly hurt; she'd taken his laughter as derisive. Tom smiled at her to reassure her.

"I was just thinking how well it suits your personality. The springy thing…well, you always have a bounce in your step," he explained and she blushed brightly, the freckles across her nose disappearing as blood flooded her face. At that moment the Professor quieted them and began his introductions.

"Now, students, I am Professor Willoughby. This is of course Charms. It is here you will learn rudimentary wand work. Charms is perhaps one of the most basic, but most useful areas of magic. It covers everything from basic levitation," he muttered an incantation and made a Ravenclaw girl's purple quill float off the table, receiving awed applause, "to very complex pieces of magic that are far beyond any school student, such as the Fidelius Charm, which will hide any place completely, making it only accessible to those who have been told of its location by the 'secret keeper' of the hidden location. It is in this classroom you will learn the magic you use most often. Today we are going to being with a very simple, but very useful spell you will no doubt use many times. The Lumos Charm will produce a light from the end of your wand, providing an instant source of light. To perform the Lumos charm you must flick your wand down, then up quickly," – Willoughby demonstrated, jerking his wand slightly – "and say _lumos_, be sure to place the right emphasis on the first syllable. It should be _loo-mos_, second syllable nice and quick. Let's see you lot have a go." Willoughby waved his wand, drawing the curtains and putting out all the lights in the room.

The class was soon filled with muttering and wand waving. Franny got so frustrated with her wand that she shrieked shrilly "LUMOS!" and jerked her wand sideways, sending a spray of electrical sparks across the room, giving slight shocks to anyone they touched, causing a series of yelps. Willoughby shouted into the darkness for them to be careful, "It's down and up! No sideways movements, students!"

Tom looked around in the darkness seeing random flickers of light appear at intervals around the room. He turned to the side Grace was on and said, "Shall we try?" Grace nodded, then, realising Tom couldn't see her replied, "All right then. Let's do it together. On the count of three, "Tom muttered his agreement, "one…two…three! _Lumos_!" the two of them exclaimed, jerking their wands down and then up.

Two beams of light shot across the classroom, catching the face of a Ravenclaw boy looking like a dear in the headlights of an oncoming car and Mulciber looking so frustrated he was just shaking his wand up and down angrily. Willoughby jumped up and exclaimed, "LOOK! Everyone, look at Riddle and McDermott, they've got it! Perfect Lumos Charms! Have five points for Slytherin each! Now to put out your wands, jerk them upwards and say '_nox_'." Tom and Grace obeyed and their wands extinguished themselves. By the end of the lesson most students had managed to light their wands and extinguish them. Willoughby gave them three charms to read up on and practice before the next lesson, the Levitation Charm, the Lockpicking Charm and the Repairing Charm. The day passed in much the same way as the morning had. After break they trudged down to Herbology where they received more welcomes and collected willow sap, which was useful for treating colds. Professor Beery gave them a paper on the medicinal properties of sap in common trees.

History of Magic was next, which was taught by a ghost who shocked the class, producing shrieks from the girls when he floated in through the blackboard. Unlike the other teachers, Professor Binns gave only the most rudimentary of introductions and launched into a long, boring lecture on the history of wizard-goblin relations. Tom was the only one who managed to take satisfactory notes during the class as Binns' voice had a soporific effect on everyone, including Grace. Her notes diminished significantly throughout the lesson, becoming less and less detailed, until they became small comic strips about goblins stealing wands in several different ways. Binns set them a foot long essay on the restriction of wand use by magical creatures.

Following lunch they had double Defence Against the Dark Arts. Tom and Grace had been looking forward to this all day, however they were sorely disappointed. Professor Merrythought did not give them any exciting tasks or stories. Instead he made them copy a study plan for the entire year, telling them everything they would study, and then gave an overview of what would be studied in each year of their schooling. After that he had them copy down definitions of the Dark Arts and what was included underneath them. The lesson disappeared quickly and was thoroughly dull. Mercifully, Merrythought gave them no homework. As they left the classroom to return their things to the common room before dinner Tom turned to Grace and said, "Oh well, it'll get better. He was just introducing everything; next lesson will be much more exciting." Grace latched onto this, cheering up significantly and bouncing down to the warm, green glow of the Slytherin common room.  
That night Tom and Grace were so exhausted that once they had done Beery's essay, half of Binns' and practiced the Levitation Charm (both of them successfully levitated their copy of _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_) they could barely mutter goodnight before dragging themselves to their warm, four poster beds and collapsing in their warm emerald green bedding.

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There's Chapter three. It's really long… Please Review!!!


	4. Jealousy

**Not Alone**

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Disclaimer: Do I have to?

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**Jealousy**

Tom and Grace fell into a comfortable routine over the next few weeks. The pair of them were consistently at the top of all their classes, earning them admiration from all the other Slytherin first years as they kept earning Slytherin points, placing them a head and shoulders above every other team in competition for the House Cup. After Tom had explained to Grace that a 'mudblood' was a person of non-magical birth and that they were looked down on in Slytherin, the pair had decided to play ignorant of their births. In Tom's case this was no stretch, but for Grace they said that her father was a wizard and her mother had died and she had never asked her father because he was so sensitive about it (in reality her mother had run off with another man and her father was prone to long rants about her). Strangely, rather than earning suspicion from the unquestionably pureblood Slytherins, it seemed to have the opposite effect. The mystery surrounding the two best students in the class intensified the admiration of them.

This culminated in Franny Parkinson using a charm to turn her hair black and make it thick. It failed, instead turning her hair into thick, matted yak hair, which took several weeks of drinking a potion from Madam Gosling to return it to its long, blonde beginning. Grace and Tom's newfound admiration extended beyond the students. Professor Slughorn could often be heard loudly proclaiming the excellence of Slytherin students to other Professors in the halls after their classes, giving long winded explanations of the difficult potions they had produced. Willoughby almost always asked Tom or Grace to demonstrate for the class after their second lesson where they had performed the Lockpicking Charm, the Levitation Charm and the Repairing Charm perfectly where others struggled throughout the lesson, trying to unlock the padlock Willoughby had provided. Avery got confused between the Lockpicking Charm and the Levitation Charm, exclaiming "_Alohom Leviosa!_" sending pieces of the locking mechanism flying across the room, one of them creating a hole in Willoughby's hat.

Tom's jealousy of Grace had increased tenfold when Farrow had delivered a large parcel from home containing homemade sweets but he had softened his internal rant about her and her father when she immediately offered him the best toffee he'd ever had in his life. It was not until their happy routine of being equally good at everything, sitting by the fire at night and helping each other (which really consisted of finishing quickly, checking each other's work then eating the sweets from Mr McDermott and making each other laugh) and sitting next to each other receiving equal praise was interrupted that Tom and Grace's friendship was tested at all.

One morning Tom emerged from the dormitory passage way, grumpy, as usual in the mornings, to see a large crowd of first years huddled excitedly at the pin board whispering and gesturing to each other. Tom looked around the common room and saw the people from other year levels looked thoroughly uninterested. He frowned and began to walk across to the crowd of first years when movement behind him made him turn. He saw Grace, her hair as wild as ever, emerging from the girl's dormitory, sighting him and ambling over to him sleepily. He frowned slightly as he watched her. She'd learnt to tie her tie with magic and no longer needed to fit it over her head after Tom had tied it so her hair had gone back to wild curls. He sighed and shrugged, at least Marcella and Franny had given her some hair product that made her curls much more defined and pretty, as opposed to a knotted, matted mess. As she reached him she yawned and muttered, "What's goin' on?" Tom shrugged and took her hand, pulling her over to the pin board. Malfoy sighted them and bounced excitedly.

"Look! Guys, look, we're getting flying lessons!" Sure enough, as Tom and Grace reached the board they saw a piece of parchment tacked to the board reading:

First Year Flying Lessons  
Tuesday, Week 4, sixth period  
Meet on the Quidditch pitch

Grace turned to Tom, her large eyes looking fearful but excited, "Tom, that's tomorrow!!!" Tom shrugged and smiled at her.

"You'll be fine, Gracie," he reassured her, pulling her away and off to breakfast. Unfortunately for Tom, Grace was fine. Better than fine, she was brilliant. He was decent. By the end of the lesson Grace was by far the best flyer, even better than Malfoy who had bragged about flying around his family's manor since he was a baby. Tom could fly as well as Malfoy, but Grace ran rings around everyone, wowing them with rolls and loops, her hair flying out behind her. At the end of the lesson when they touched back down Grace ran over to Tom breathing heavily, "TOM! Wasn't that BRILLIANT? I'm writing home to Daddy immediately! It was amazing! Wasn't it?" but Tom didn't answer. He was seething. He didn't mind being equal with her, but the fact that she was _better_ than him was unacceptable.

He glanced sideways at her and saw her expectant smile and muttered, "Yeah, something," before striding off the Quidditch pitch and marching up the grounds to the castle before Grace could follow. That night at dinner Tom sat between Malfoy and Mulciber. When Grace approached, Mulciber began to move before Tom jerked his head and shot Mulciber a glare that would stop anyone in their tracks. Grace stood behind them and Mulciber shot her an apologetic look and glanced to the remaining place next to Gertrude. Shocked, hurt and confused, Grace ambled over to Gertrude in a daze, sitting down and finding her appetite had disappeared. "Trouble with the twins," she heard Gertrude mutter and her head shot up.

"What do you mean 'twins'?"

"Oh come on," Gertrude snorted as she shovelled steak and kidney pie into her mouth, "you and Tom are the wonder twins. You always do everything together and always get the same marks. You even look the same!" Gertrude said scathingly, eyeing Grace's dark hair and pale skin, glancing over at Tom, who had his face turned away from them. "You did something to upset your twin. Wonder what it was; dare to be better than him at something?" Gertrude teased.

Grace was silent for the rest of the meal, picking at her mashed potatoes half-heartedly. Franny and Marcella gave up trying to engage her in conversation eventually. Grace was musing on what she could possibly have done to upset Tom. She was always sensitive to him and careful not to talk about her family too much and to share any treats she got from home. They had never gotten different marks from each other so he couldn't be jealous of that. She hadn't said anything cruel to him. He just suddenly turned cold after their flying lesson! Grace sighed, maybe he would be better after dinner and they would do their homework by the fire as usual.

When she returned to the common room Tom was already there, huddled in a corner working on an essay for Merrythought with Rosier, Avery and Dolohov. Grace stared at the four of them for a few minutes. The green light that permeated the common room that usually seemed warm and comforting was suddenly eerie and made her feel lonely. Grace turned on her heel and ran straight to the Owlery, crying her eyes out to Farrow. He fluttered into her lap and gave her hand a series of comforting nips and she sobbed, lamenting about Tom.

Tom watched Grace leave the common room, her large eyes looking hurt and her lip trembling. Rosier cleared his throat uncomfortably; his eyes were flitting between Tom and the entrance to the common room. "Are…ah…you and Grace-", he quickly fell silent as Tom glared at him. Tom felt a twinge of guilt tug at his heart. It wasn't Grace's fault that she was good at flying. It wasn't as if he was bad at it. For a moment his resolve began to fail and he almost went after Grace but then he heard Franny talking to Malfoy from across the room.

"I had no idea Gracie was such a good flier! For once she and Tom weren't neck and neck in something!" Tom felt a surge of rage fill his chest and slammed his book shut, storming off to the dormitory, leaving Rosier, Avery and Dolohov with stunned faces.

Tom threw his bag down and sat on his bed seething. He felt extremely hot and pulled a chair over to the wall so he could reach the high-up windows that were around the top of the dormitory. The cool breeze calmed him slightly but rage still filled his chest, raving like a mad creature inside him. The window, which was level with the ground outside, creaked slightly and Tom looked up, his eyes flashing. A small green snake was at the window looking at Tom curiously. Tom's face softened. He loved snakes. Before Grace they were his only friends, and now they were his only friends again, he thought angrily. "Come here," he hissed in Parseltongue. The snake obeyed, sliding in through the window and dropping down onto the chair, slithering over onto his bed from there. Tom lay down and the snake curled around his head on the pillow.

"Something wrong?" it enquired in its breathy, hissing voice. Tom turned his head to look the snake in the face, it stuck its tongue out, tickling his face. Tom screwed up his face and tried to remain angry, stifling the giggles that threatened to escape him. He sighed and twisted around onto his stomach.

"What's your name?" he said to the snake.

"Salamae," it hissed, "and you?"

"Tom," he smiled at the snake.

"You seem to be rather agitated Tom. What's wrong?" the snake repeated. Tom sat up and crossed his legs, looking down at the snake on his pillow.

"It's not fair!" he complained, "She's supposed to be my friend but she has everything better than I do! I don't like coming second but I always do with her. Sure we get the same marks but her things are all new and shiny, mine are all tattered and second hand. She has a family and gets all these sweets from home all the time!"

"She doesn't share?" Salamae cut in.

"Well…she does but that doesn't make it better! She still has people sending them to _her_ and I have no one. Getting her leftovers is hardly any good. She even says she'll share her owl with me. Like I have any use of an owl. Who am I going to send letters to? No one loves me. I'm all alone."

"Are you really?" the snake asked, "It sounds to me that she loves you. She shares everything with you, doesn't she? Always tries to make you feel better. You also have snakes. There aren't many like you that talk to us you know. It's nice to talk to someone once in a while. We don't tend to group together often, snakes."

Tom was looking at his feet, thinking. Maybe she did love him. She always seemed to be very in tune with his feelings. Maybe she shared with him not because she felt sorry for him but because she knew he was worth just as much as her? Tom shook his head, "It's still not fair. She's better than me at flying. She has everything better and I can't _beat_ her at anything. I can be her equal in school work but she can _beat_ me. She beats me in everything _but_ school work."

The snake looked at him and sighed, "It sounds silly to me," it breathed, "but if flying and new books are so important to you, ignore her. You have somehing she doesn't. Something she can never have. Snakes. We make you unique, you know. I wasn't lying when I said there aren't many that can talk to us. Sometimes it's better to be better in a quiet way. Then you impress everyone all the more when you succeed." Tom was silent. What Salamae said made sense. He didn't want to hurt Grace either. She seemed to rely on him a lot. Maybe he was being stupid. Tom sighed and got up. He was going to find her.

Grace was ambling back to the common room, puffy eyed and red faced. She had been in the Owlery and noticed it was past curfew. She wiped her eyes, received a goodbye nip from Farrow and hurried out of the Owlery, down to the dungeons. She was trudging down the main staircase when Tom appeared out of the dungeon corridor. "Gracie!" he hissed, "It's past curfew, come back here, you'll get us in trouble!" Gracie stopped dead.

"You're…You're talking to me again?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yes," he muttered, "Look, I was silly, ok? But get back into the common room now before some teacher comes along and we get in trouble!" Gracie practically skipped down the staircase and along the corridor to the common room. She chortled "serpent" at the wall and it opened up. The common room was practically empty. She had been up in the Owlery for longer than she thought. Tom grabbed her arm and pulled her around angrily, "Where _were_ you?" he hissed, sounding livid, "I looked everywhere for you! I searched all the dungeons and classrooms I could find! I've been looking for hours! Do you realise what could have happened if either one of us had been caught?!" he ranted. Once he had finished his tirade Gracie giggled, and he shot her a look which suggested another tirade was coming because of that.

"Sorry, sorry!" she said quickly, "I was up in the Owlery. I…I was upset," she looked down at her toes. Tom blushed and muttered that they should go to bed, it was past midnight. Gracie looked at him and whispered, "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"No. Now let's go to-" but he was cut short. Grace had flung her arms around his neck and was hugging him tightly. Tom stood there stunned, not quite knowing how to react. No one ever hugged him. The women at the orphanage never did and he had no parents. Grace continued to cling to him tightly and eventually he wrapped his arms tentatively around her middle and squeezed her. "Right now," he said, blushing, "bed. We'll never wake up otherwise." Gracie grinned and skipped off up to the girl's dormitories. He watched her go and wandered down to his dorm. Salamae poked his head out from under the bed where he had curled up for the night.

"All better?" he hissed.

"Yeah…all better," replied Tom, smiling, as he fell into bed.

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Chapter 4! Review please. Not overly proud of this chappie, it feels stilted to me. Tell me what you think. IF I DON'T RECEIVE REVIEWS THIS STORY WILL BE DISCONTINUED.


	5. Extra Credit

**Not Alone**

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Disclaimer: I own everything. That's right. I AM JK Rowling...okay, okay, I lied but I'm sick of saying I don't own anything.

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**Extra Credit**

Gracie whooped in triumph as the remnants of whiskers and a tail disappeared from her tea cup, "I did it, Tom, look!" Tom smiled indulgently at her. She was always so proud of herself and surprised whenever she managed anything even though she knew as well as he did that they were far and away the best students in first year. Dumbledore even had them doing second year Transfigurations while everyone else struggled turning their silver barrettes into golden broaches, glaring at the two of them at the front of the class.

"Of course you did, dear. You're intelligent." Tom said sarcastically as he poked his teacup with his wand, enjoying its momentary squeaks of protest as he gave it a head and then took it away again. He grinned at he cut its outraged cry short as Dumbledore came over to the desk, smiling at the two of them.

"I'm not sure he enjoys that, Tom," Dumbledore whispered softly, his sparkling blue eyes bearing down into Tom's dark chocolate brown eyes. Tom put his wand down on the desk, embarrassed at being admonished, glaring resentfully Dumbledore. He didn't like being told what to do or being told off. He could see Grace smiling amusedly out of the corner of his eye and made a note to get her back for laughing at him. "I see you two have, yet again, successfully completed the task set for you," Dumbledore gave each of them approving glances as Tom smiled smugly and Grace beamed, thrilled with the praise, "I'm fast running out of things to set you without making second year Transfiguration obsolete! I think the two of you need something...extra to keep you busy." Dumbledore smiled at the two of them, his eyes twinkling brightly. "Riddle, I need to talk to you about it first, as it is conditional upon your agreement above all else, then I will consult with you Miss McDermott. Come see me after dinner tonight, Tom. I shall be in my office." Dumbledore smiled at the two baffled first years, hurrying across the room to help Franny who, instead of turning her silver barrette gold had gilded Marcella's hands so she couldn't move them.

Tom and Grace glanced momentarily at the uproar Marcella was causing in the class then turned to each other quickly and excitedly. "What do you think he wants?" Grace whispered excitedly, "I wonder why he needs your agreement first? Tom, you have to tell me _everything _when you get back, got it?" Tom nodded mutely to her, lost in thought. While Dumbledore's desire to talk to Grace first had caught her interest, it caught his far more. Why _him_ specifically? Was it about something _he_ could do that Grace couldn't? Dumbledore knew he was a Parselmouth. His mind wandered back to that fateful day the summer before when Dumbledore had appeared at the orphanage and revealed his true identity. Tom hadn't realised how unique he was until he reached Hogwarts. Dumbledore had told him it was rare for people to be able to speak to snakes, but he had researched it since. It wasn't just rare, it was almost unheard of, and when it did appear it was always associated with great power. Salazar Slytherin himself had been a Parselmouth. Tom smiled as he remembered the gratifying feeling this discovery had given him. Gracie was still whispering excitedly about the extra credit assignment Dumbledore was having them do. Tom stayed in his reverie for the rest of the lesson and it continued throughout the day. Grace had to tap him several times to get him to pay attention to anything that was happening in lessons. "You're odd today, Tom. What's up?"

"Nothing...it's nothing Gracie. I suspect I'll get over it soon." Tom said, absent minded.

That night at dinner Tom's normally careful and dainty manner of eating degenerated significantly, instead he wolfed down his mashed potato and sausages faster than anyone else at the Slytherin table. "You realise Professor Dumbledore has to finish eating as well, don't you?" Grace teased as Tom scooped the last of his potato and peas into his mouth. His rapid chewing slowed slightly and he attempted a subtle glance at the teacher's table but Grace caught him at it and began to tease him.

Tom glowered at her and under the table he pointed his wand at her and muttered "_Titheckafer_", causing Grace to collapse into giggles as invisible fingers tickled her all over. Tom grinned as people along the table began to notice her suppressed shrieks and convulsions as she resisted screaming out in laughter and shot Tom a pleading look to end her torture. Tom smiled and muttered the counter curse and Grace collapsed, relaxing noticeably.

"Tom, you are a total jerk!" she gasped, "Ow...my sides hurt."

"Well you laughed at me," Tom grinned, "I thought you could laugh at something else...and I could laugh at you." Gracie glared at him and then rolled her eyes when he continued to grin maddeningly at her.

"Dumbledore's finished," Gracie noted. Tom's head shot up as Dumbledore stood up from his place at the teacher's table, pausing to talk to Slughorn momentarily before continuing down past the Slytherin table. He paused at the group of first years.

"Finished, Tom?" Tom nodded. "Come then, we shall meet in my office. Miss McDermott, I may on you later," Dumbledore added with a smile. The first year Slytherins watched in amazement. Was it possible? Radiant Riddle of the Terrific Twosome in trouble? Mulciber turned to Grace in amazement.

"Gracie, what's going on?" Mulciber asked, wide eyed.

"Oh, it's nothing. Dumbledore just wants to talk to both of us individually about an extra credit assignment for Transfiguration." The first years gave her incredulous looks but said nothing more, eyeing her suspiciously as they finished their dinner.

Tom followed at Dumbledore's heels, anxious and eager. Dumbledore's star spangled purple robes flared out behind him as they hurried along the corridors. Dumbledore's office was tucked down the end of the Transfiguration corridor. Tom scanned the room as he entered behind Dumbledore. There was a large desk at the top end of the room and spindly silver instruments ticked and puffed on small tables around the corner of the room. A large empty perch sat by the window, which Tom assumed was for a pet owl. "Tom?" Dumbledore's voice came from the desk at the front of the room, "Take a seat, Tom," he conjured a comfortable-looking chintz armchair. Tom sat down, resisting the urge to ask the stream of questions that had been running through his head all day. "Now, Tom. I'm sure you're curious about why I wanted to talk to you and Miss McDermott, and particularly why you first." Tom nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, Tom, you and Miss McDermott present an exciting opportunity to me that I have longed to try for many years but never had the opportunity." Dumbledore paused and gave Tom another piercing look with his bright blue eyes. "I'm sure you have worked out that you two are far more advanced than your class. Far more capable. Far more intelligent, more dedicated, resourceful, concentrated...powerful. Yes, Tom, both of you are exceptionally powerful," Dumbledore said quietly as Tom's eyes lit up. "The reason I want you two is there is an experiment I have longed to test for many years but never had the sufficient time or students with the capabilities to put it into practice."

Tom frowned, "I'm not sure I gather what you mean, sir."

"You are familiar, I gather, with animagi?"

"People who can turn into animals at will, sir? What does that have to do with Grace and I?"

"Well, Tom, I have long been interested in things that can change states, as is obvious through my choice of subject. It has always been assumed that animagi are born, not made. I have done my own research which contests this and gives credibility to my theory that with hard work and dedication animagi _can_ be made."

Tom looked at Dumbledore, quizzical and excited. "What does this have to do with Grace and I, sir?"

"I want her to become one."

"Her?" demanded Tom, "Why _her_? If it's _her_ you want why am I here? WHY did you want to talk to _me_ first?"

"Ah, Tom, you are far too quick to anger. You are equally important to the plan, if not more. It has been part of my studies to determine what a person's Patronus shall appear as before it has ever been conjured. Yours is a snake, which should come as no surprise considering your particular abilities."

"Uh...excuse me, sir, but...Patronus?" Dumbledore jumped slightly, as if awakened from a reverie and exclaimed.

"Oh! How silly of me! It was foolish of me to assume you'd come across them. The Patronus Charm is a very powerful charm that combats magical creatures called Dementors who guard the wizard prison Azkaban. They are an essence of happiness and appear in the form of an animal that reflects your soul. Your Patronus corresponds to the animal one would turn into if one were to be an animagus. For example, a second year Gryffindor girl, Minerva McGonagall, you may not have heard of her, is an animagus. She turns into a rather handsome tabby cat. When she learns to conjure a Patronus it will have the same form. Understand, Tom?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, good, now where was I? Ah, yes. Well you're Patronus is a snake, as I said. However, it may surprise you to know that your friend Grace is _also_ a snake."

Tom stared at him incredulously, "_Grace_? A _snake_? Shouldn't she be a monkey, or a bunny rabbit? "Something sweet, cuddly. Bouncy. A snake...it-it just doesn't fit, Professor."

Dumbledore's long fingers were joined in front of his nose, blocking the view of his smile as he watched Tom's confusion. "Now Tom, you have sprung upon an oddity of Patroni. It is true the animal that truly reflects Grace's soul is a spider monkey and that _was_ her Patronus," Dumbledore gave Tom a piercing stare, "before she met _you_."

Tom scoffed and his response dripped with disbelief. "I changed her _soul_? Ridiculous."

"Ah, never underestimate the power of love, Tom. It changes people. It changes their souls."

Tom recoiled, "Grace doesn't love me. We're friends. _That's it!_" he spat forcefully.

"There is more than one type of love, Tom. You have changed her. Believe it or not, she changed you. Not as significantly, mind, but perhaps in the future..." Dumbledore trailed off, then Tom cleared his throat.

"Professor?"

"Right, of course. Now to the point. You are a Parselmouth. This entire operation hinges on your willingness to share this with Miss McDermott. What I want to do, you see, is have you help her. Using real snakes. She can concentrate on them, through you, and with much hard work and dedication she may be able to become one. It may take years, but if my theory is right, she will become one. Animagi can communicate with other animals of their kind, so Grace would then be able to talk to snakes. She would also be able to communicate with other animagi, even of different forms, and, if she dedicates herself, be able to communicate with all animals. If you can talk to her, which, as a snake you will be able to, you may be able to talk to all the animals she can. Together you two will have access to a whole new area of knowledge and magic. It would be of great help to me and my studies, and of course, the benefit to you will be immense. So, Tom, are you willing?"

Tom was shocked, lost in information, possibilities, promises of power. He imagined being able to talk to, and thus control all animals. Snakes obeyed him. If Grace was a snake, he could control her too. Tom stared into space above Dumbledore's head, imagining, dreaming of power. "I will be the greatest wizard ever known..." he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say, Riddle?" Dumbledore's voice cut into his musings sharply. Tom started, unaware that he had spoken aloud.

"What I mean to say, sir, is that I am willing. That is if Grace complies."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded slowly, "Very good, Tom. Go and fetch her would you?" Tom hurried off to the Slytherin common room, his mind still reeling. He reached the stretch of blank wall in the dungeons that told him he was at the door.

"Isle de la Muerta" he spat out, impatient to get back to Dumbledore. The password, having changed the previous week, caused the wall to peel back, revealing the green-lit underground room. Grace was sitting by the fire, curled up in an emerald velvet chair reading _The Magical Menagerie: An Encyclopedia of Magical Animals_, Tom smiled at the appropriateness of her reading choice and called to her across the room, beckoning her with his arm, "Gracie!" Her head snapped up, she grinned excitedly and bouncing of the chair, chucking her book in her bag by the chair and swinging around all the objects between her and the door. She really was a spider monkey, Tom thought. "Come on, hurry, it's good, Gracie. Real good. Better than _anything_ you could have been thinking."

Grace and Tom rushed back up the corridor to Dumbledore's office. "Miss McDermott first, Riddle. You wait in the hall a moment while I explain." Tom nodded and Grace shot him a nervous but excited glance, he grinned reassuringly at her and watched the door close behind her. Tom smiled as he heard their muffled voices through the door. He could almost time Gracie's shocked and amazed gasps, he could hear her blushing and her embarrassment when Dumbledore revealed her Patronus was a snake because she loved him. Tom stopped dead when he thought that. Someone _loved_ him. It was stupid. Why would anyone? Love wasn't beneficial to anyone or anything. It made people weak. What was it he had overheard Mrs Cole say about his mother the day she died? The day he was born. That vile Cole woman had called his mother "lovesick". She had died because she was too "lovesick" to fight for him. Fight for _his_ love. He'd watched orphans come over the years, the older ones distraught at losing their parents. He'd listened to their screams of "I want my mummy" for years. They were all weak. Love made them weak. Grace wasn't weak though, was she? She had always seemed strong minded and powerful to him. But she loved him. Dumbledore said so, her Patronus was a snake. She had to love him. There was no other explanation for her being a snake when she so clearly was something more bubbly and bright, a spider monkey. He grinned at the image of Gracie as a monkey. Her big green eyes would make her look like a cartoon monkey. Her face with fur as white as snow, turning to ebony just beyond the corners of her eyes. She's have tiny rust-coloured spots across the snow white fur on her nose for her freckles. She'd probably be bouncing all over the place, jumping on things. Tom smiled and almost giggled at the image of Grace the cartoon monkey in his mind when he heard Dumbledore's call, "Tom, would you join us?"

Tom opened the door and made his way over to the desk. Grace had been kneeling on her chair, looking backwards towards him, bouncing. He stifled a snort of laughter. Dumbledore conjured another chintz armchair next to Grace's and looked at them both, smiling. "Tom, there is one part of this I have not revealed to Grace. She is rather confused as to why you are in on this scheme too."

Grace was looking expectantly at him. He turned to her and stated "I'm a Parselmouth, Gracie. I know you don't know what that is," he added, seeing her confused frown, "I didn't either till we got to Hogwarts. It means I can talk to snakes. They listen to me...obey me. I'm going to get them to help you transform. I'm going to be the one who communicates with you as a snake, connect you to the world of people while you're in a world of animals." Grace's mouth was hanging open slightly, her massive eyes even wider, consuming at least a third of her tiny pixyish face.

"T-talk to snakes?" she stuttered, "...Show me. Show me, Tom. Speak snakeish." Tom couldn't suppress a snort of laughter at this.

"Snakeish? Oh Gracie, dear. I'm a Parsel_mouth_ because I speak Parsel_tongue_," he smiled at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned wider, "All right then." Tom concentrated hard, picturing Grace as a snake and spoke to her "_Hello Gracie, it's silly to love a snake, you know. They'll bite you in the end_," Tom hissed. Grace's tiny mouth was opened wide.

"Hess...Sgraa, sa sils...sta hossh has...snaash, huus sooh..." Gracie repeated, labouring, trying to find the equivalent sounds in English of what Tom had hissed at her. Tom listened in surprise. He wasn't really aware of the difference when he spoke it; it was interesting to hear what she had heard. "What does it mean, Tom?"

"Oh...nothing really. Just 'Hello Grace' that kind of thing..." Tom trailed off lamely. Gracie didn't seem to notice.

"Professor, how do we start? What's the process?"

Dumbledore smiled, "That, I'm afraid, is one of the reasons I have not put this to the test sooner. I am not entirely sure. I know it will take extreme desire, concentration and determination, but I am not really sure where to begin. I believe meditation may be of use however. I want monthly progress reports from the pair of you. Do not fret if you do not have much to report. All I want is constant vigilance with your practice, understand?" The pair nodded. "In addition, I understand it may be difficult to find places to practice, what with curfews and other Slytherins all around your...charming common room," Dumbledore paused, his smile somewhat strained. Tom and Grace glanced at each other, as Head of Gryffindor he must carry some of the old rivalry between the houses with him, "So, in order to make it easier for you I have a gift." Dumbledore pulled from under his desk something silvery and grey. It seemed transparent and made of silk. Tom took it in his hands, Gracie ran her hand over the surface, shivering at its smooth texture.

"What is it, sir?" she breathed.

"An invisibility cloak. It will cover the two of you sufficiently. You may walk the corridors underneath that and find empty classrooms after curfew. If need be you may go onto the grounds to find snakes to help. This task and this gift is to be revealed to no one, understand? If anyone asks about this say that the two of you are doing advanced lessons privately with me. Hide the invisibility cloak. It is _not _to be used for anything other than the task I have set you." Dumbledore said calmly but with a hard sheen in his normally light, clear blue eyes that issued the two of them with a strong warning. "Bed time I think," said Dumbledore cheerfully as the clock struck eleven. "Go back under the cloak," he smiled.

Tom and Grace looked at each other and shrugged, Tom throwing the cloak over his body. Grace gasped, "Tom! Your body! You're just a floating head! It really works!"

"You will still be completely corporal, by the way," came Dumbledore's voice from behind a screen in the office, "people will be able to feel you if you run into them."

Grace hurried under the cloak with Tom and they pulled it over their heads. It was much oversized and easy for the two of them to walk freely and have it cover them completely. They reached the common room and muttered "Isle de la Muerta" to the wall, hoping that no one was in the common room still. Thankfully it was barren besides Grace's book bag, still slumped against the chair by the fire.

"Tom, I'm so excited!" she bounced on the balls of her feet, "Can we start tomorrow, Tom? Can we?"

"We'd better...we've got to do monthly reports. It wouldn't look good for us to not seem dedicated." Grace shrieked softly in excitement and threw her arms around Tom, her wild hair tickling his nose and making him splutter. "Ah! Gra-Gracie, your hair!"

"Oh! Sorry," grinned sheepishly, stepping back, her hands taming the curls that threatened to overwhelm her face. Tom looked at her and smiled. He muttered that they ought to get to bed. Grace hurried to get her bag and looked back to say goodnight before heading down the passage to the girl's dorms. "Goodnigh-" she broke off as Tom's arms wrapped around her and he muttered in her ear.

"Goodnight, Gracie dear. Sleep tight, snakelet," he smiled and released her. He wandered down to his dorm, the invisibility cloak clutched in his hands. Grace watched him disappear in the dark passageway before smiling softly and breathing.

"Goodnight, Serpent Lord."

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So here's chapter 5! I only had a rough outline of what I was actually going to have as the substance of this story until this chapter. It all came together here. I know what I'ma do. As for the Pirates of the Caribbean reference, my sister is watching it in the other room. A snakelet is a small snake, although she's not really that because she can't turn into one yet. She's not even a neonate (newly born snake)! Anyways...REVIEW. Reviews are my life blood and they keep me motivated.


	6. Power of Thought

**Not Alone**

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Disclaimer: You know it and it will not be included in any future chapters. You all know the truth.

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**Power of Thought**

Gracie's face was screwed up in concentration, her nose crinkled and her eyes squashed shut tightly. Tom was looking at her, smirking. "You realise that's not exactly meditative," he admonished her, "it's about obtaining inner peace, not wrinkles at the age of 11."

Gracie's eyes sprung open and she scowled at Tom, poking her tongue out. "How come you're always _so_ preoccupied with people's looks?" she teased. "You're like a girl. Is your dorm plastered in mirrors?" she giggled, "I bet it is! You've always gotta get your 5 hours a day staring at reflective surfaces." Tom was rolling his eyes, staring up into the window above them. Gracie turned, seeing Tom's face reflected in the dark, shiny glass and she collapsed onto the grass laughing. Tom's face jerked away from the window and he stared at her, apparently perplexed.

"What's so funny?"

Gracie gasped, clutching her sides, "I-I tease you about staring at yourself and then I catch you staring lovingly into the window!" Tom blushed, a slight pink tinge coming into his normally pallid face.

"Enough!" Tom snapped. "You're _supposed_ to be meditating and trying to do what Dumbledore wants, not making fun of my…pride in my appearance." Grace stifled laughter as she looked up at him, biting her cheek to stop the giggles. He looked embarrassed and annoyed but also vaguely amused. Grace took a deep breath and smiled, she figured one last joke wouldn't go astray.

"Oki doki, Narcissus. The lake's over there," she pointed, "I hear you like staring at lakes more than life itself." Grace smiled and crossed her legs on the grass again closing her eyes and trying to clear her mind of anything but snakes.

"Ha ha, Classical scholar. Focus now. Snakes and picturing morphing into snakes. You need to work hard, Gracie. Dumbledore said this could take years." As Grace sat there, trying to think the way she was supposed to, Tom noticed a twitching behind him. He glanced in the grass behind him and saw Salamae slithering towards him.

"Studying hard, I see," Salamae hissed. Tom had been informing him of all the developments that they had made with Dumbledore's task, which, so far, amounted to about nothing. Tom glanced down at Salamae and hissed softly in return.

"I don't know if she is or not. It's frustrating. I want to be able to see that she's working hard at this." Tom muttered frustrated. "How old are you, anyway, Salamae? You sound like a Professor."

"Well…I'm 15 years old but for you…it's about 60, maybe 70. Is it relevant?" the snake hissed, sounding amused.

"Not particularly, but I don't generally take advice from people younger than me."

"Tom, I'm _not_ a person and even in that measure I'm older, but this is silly. She can hear you hissing you know." Salamae jerked his head towards Grace. Tom's head whipped around to Grace and his mouth snapped shut, there was a small smile on her face and her head was craned. There was silence for a minute before she pouted.

"Don't stop. I like listening. It helps. Is there a snake here? I'm picturing you talking to me as a snake…being able to understand you. You're hard to understand you know." Tom's eyes lit up and he knelt in front of Grace and held her hands, speaking softly in Parseltongue to her. Grace's eyes bugged beneath her lids. "Tom…I can actually see it clearly now. What it would look like to turn into a snake…like actually morph. Normally I can just picture a person then a snake…this is different. This is what Dumbledore wanted!" Grace's eyes sprung open, glittering with excitement. "Tom...we could actually do this!" Tom was at loss for words. Talking to her in Parseltongue, it seemed so simple. Why hadn't it occurred to him? "Oh Lord! Tom, it's 1am! We've been here for ages. We have class tomorrow!" Tom's head snapped up and he quickly checked his pocket watch. He grabbed the invisibility cloak and threw it over the two of them. "Tom! You didn't say goodbye to your snake friend!" Tom grinned, Gracie always cared about silly things like that. He decided to indulge her, smiling at her under the cloak he hissed.

"Goodnight Salamae."

"Goodnight, Tom. Tell Grace I say goodnight. She's really quite sweet."

Tom smiled and muttered, "He says you're sweet and goodnight." Tom smiled as Gracie squeaked and rambled on about snakes and talking to them.

"I really love hearing you speak Parseltongue, Tom. It sounds so amazing. I can't wait to know what you're saying." By this time they had reached the common room. Tom pulled the invisibility cloak off them. Grace wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly, "Goodnight Tom," she smiled. He smiled back and watched her go to bed before doing the same.

-

Dumbledore listened intently as Tom and Grace recounted their advancements. He was amazed. He never would have guessed that they would be able to develop so quickly. He had been musing on a means of making the process easier and had come up with a similar idea. He halted Grace's flustered ramblings, which had been occasionally broken by Tom's calm but commanding interjections and smiled at the two of them. "You have done very well, you two. Very well indeed. However, may I make a suggestion?" he paused momentarily as a courtesy, but both knew it was not a true inquiry but rather an announcement that he had something to say. "I have been musing on things that may help you in your _assignment_," Dumbledore smiled, as if he had told a joke, stood and began to pace slowly around his office, occasionally prodding one of the silver instruments on the desks, causing it to emit powerful smelling purple smoke. "It has occurred to me, that we have a conduit into the mind of a snake," he nodded to Tom," and it would be foolish not to utilise this. From your advancement it is clear that talking to you as a snake is useful...perhaps being _in the mind_ of a snake is the first step."

Tom and Grace looked at him askance. How could Grace get in the mind of a snake? It was ridiculous. They glanced at each other and Tom cocked an eyebrow questioningly and Grace shrugged in reply. Dumbledore giggled, causing both their heads to snap forwards again.

"I see my plan confuses you. No matter. You will work it out," he smiled and bade them goodnight. They ambled back to the common room wondering what Dumbledore could possibly have meant.

"Why does he always have to make things difficult when he _wants_ us to succeed? Bloody mental that man is." Tom smirked and chuckled.

"You're thinking too straightforward Gracie, dear. Dumbledore speaks in riddles because he thinks we hear in them." Grace gave him a look as if she was now questioning his sanity. "He thinks we're smart enough to work it out Grace! Jeez, if you can't work that out perhaps you should go back with your tail between your legs and ask the Head of Gryffindor to spell it out just a wee bit clearer for you."

Grace was ruffled by this and scowled at Tom. He chuckled. "My, my, you're fun to tease dearie."

"My, my, you speak like an old man Guv'na." Tom rolled his eyes as they walked through the wall to the common room. "So, should we try this new thing?" Grace suggested. Tom nodded and they sat down to yet another evening of Tom talking to Grace in Parseltongue as she tried to get inside the mind of a snake.

-

"Tom, what will we do over the holidays?"

"What do you mean?" Tom muttered, his eyes scanning the Daily Prophet as he munched on a piece of toast slathered in marmalade.

"Well...with the project. I mean we can hardly practice together while you're in London and I'm in Gloucester but if we leave it for three months maybe it'll go backwards. We've come so far and I don't wanna have to work up to that again." Grace shuddered slightly as she remembered the previous months. They had discovered during one of their sessions when Salamae slid over Gracie's foot that if Tom spoke to her while she was touching a snake she could understand him. Dumbledore had informed them that this meant Grace must have made a lot of progress as this was not normal. Only last month they had discovered that if _Tom_ was meditating and thinking of Salamae he could see through Salamae's eyes. Currently they were slaving away trying to find a way for Grace to get into Salamae's mind like that. She felt they were close to breaking into Salamae's head and didn't want to lose ground.

Tom was silent. He had not thought of that. Truth be told he had not been thinking of returning to the orphanage at all. He had been so happy at Hogwarts. Happy for the first time in his life. He had a home, he was well fed and treated well, but best of all he had _a friend_ here. He glanced around at the other first year Slytherins. They were all in awe of him, bar Gertrude who preferred to deride her fellow Slytherins and distance herself. The rest were ridiculously nice to him, sycophantic really, but none of them were like Grace. Grace was truly his friend. He had never thought about this before but now the prospect of being sent away from his home brought it into sharp relief. He thought of Grace's Patronus. She was the only person who _ever loved_ him. Tom began to silently panic. He couldn't go back to the orphanage.

"Uh...hello??" Grace waved her hand in front of his face and awoke him from his reverie. He put down his toast, it felt like carpet in his mouth now. "So? What will we do? End of term is in a week."

"I...I don't know Grace. We'll talk about it later. We've got to get to Potions. Remember Slughorn wanted us to help set up this Elation Potion." They swung their bags up onto their shoulders and wandered down to the dungeons. Tom's calm exterior belied his panic. There was a hand gripping his throat and heart, crushing them. He couldn't leave Hogwarts.

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Wow, really not happy with this chapter. Tell me what you think. I had major writer's block. Critique and suggestions are always welcome. Oh and those who are favouriting the story or adding it to alert list etc. Can you guys review please? I love you all. n.n


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